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Topic: Leveraging Nostalgia (Read 1068 times)

Been skulking these boards for at least 5 years now, but never posted before. Terrible I know, I apologize.

In any event, there is a new Nintendo coming out soon, and with the excellent sales of the Nintendo classic, nostalgia is in. All this leads me to wonder if we couldn't request that Nintendo push Square Enix for a new Chrono? This could be especially pertinent if they include Chrono Trigger on the SNES re-release.

Maybe I'm just hyping myself up, but it does seem like a long-shot possibility.

Been skulking these boards for at least 5 years now, but never posted before. Terrible I know, I apologize.

In any event, there is a new Nintendo coming out soon, and with the excellent sales of the Nintendo classic, nostalgia is in. All this leads me to wonder if we couldn't request that Nintendo push Square Enix for a new Chrono? This could be especially pertinent if they include Chrono Trigger on the SNES re-release.

Maybe I'm just hyping myself up, but it does seem like a long-shot possibility.

Thoughts?

It would make perfect sense for them to revive the Chrono franchise, but they probably won't, because they're SE.

I just wish they'd realize the gold mine they've been sitting on with Chrono, how indies would kill for that kind of built-in brand awareness, but anyway, that's preaching-to-the-choir stuff. I do worry that with each year that goes by, more Chrono fans pass into the Grey Havens that exist beyond following videogames day-to-day, and thus said gold mine has shrunk to the point that SE will no longer care about it at all. BUT -- for sure Xenogears is a step below Chrono in SE's catalogue of IPs, so there's always that faint ray of hope.

I generally hold a pretty low opinion of Square and their mishandling of the Chrono series as well.

However, the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is currently having a Secret of Mana event where you can get characters from that game for your team. This is the first time FFBE has introduced characters from a non-Final Fantasy title, and it opens the door for them to do the same with Chrono Trigger characters.

So what? Assuming they even do that, it's just a glorified cameo appearance in an unrelated game.

Although it's totally playable without spending a dime, FFBE is microtransaction-driven game. One of the things you can spend money on is summoning more characters. They're randomly chosen, of course, to keep you buying until you get the one you're really after. I suspect Square may be using these events as a barometer for what people want to see—if sales skyrocket during the Secret of Mana event, they'll know there's interest in the series. The fact that they're reaching so far back into their library seems to suggest they are indeed trying to cash in on nostalgia.

It's a long shot, but hopefully they'll do a Chrono Trigger event which earns a zillion dollars, and Square will have unequivocal proof that the series is worth reviving.

Unfortunately, solid reviews don't equal solid sales numbers. Especially with how SquareEnix operates these days -- they seem to care only about development for lucrative franchises and occasional publishing opportunities.

Besides the problem of solid sales numbers not being guaranteed, there is the issue of most of the CT "Dream Team" no longer being a part of Square Enix. Since it's extremely unlikely that they would be able to get all of them together, Square would need to put a new one together if they have any plans on making a new Chrono game... Or at least get Kato involved.

That being said, stranger things have happened. Shenume III or however it's spelled is coming out; you'd think a new Chrono game would make just as much sense... It's possible that Nintendo could convince Square to make a new game, but then they'd want to release either a port or a remake of Chrono Cross for it first since that has yet to be released on Nintendo consoles.